Teachable Moments: 'Win just one for the Gipper' became a rallying mantra

Notre Dame football star appreciated the gifts he'd been given

3:52 AM,
Feb. 18, 2014

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"Win one for the Gipper," the shortened version of a speech that Notre Dame's legendary football coach Knute Rockne used to motivate his 1928 team to upset the powerful, undefeated Army squad. It also became Ronald Reagan's political slogan; Reagan had played the role of George Gipp in the 1940 movie "Knute Rockne, All American."

George Gipp, who was born on Feb. 18, 1895, in Laurium, Mich., was an outstanding athlete in several sports, baseball being his favorite, and played all over the field for Rockne.

Gipp was attending Notre Dame on a baseball scholarship, and he wanted to play in the ...